the One who holds your hand

the other day i was looking through the journal that i keep, and i found some verses that i had written down during my devotions a couple of years ago (when we lived in s florida during hurricane wilma). and i thought that these verses were so neat and really encouraged me during the time i'm going through now. so i though i would share these with you now to hopefully be an encouragement to you.

Romans 8:37
but in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

- i love this verse. we won't just conquer, but we will overwhelmingly conquer.

I peter 5:10
after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

- yes life will be hard, but THE GOD OF ALL GRACE will use it to perfect you!
this last verse is my favorite...

psalms 37:23-24
the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. when he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.

- this verse is so encouraging to me...we won't be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds your hand...it just reminds me of the verse that says that (and this is jen version) God won't give you more than you are capable of handling. and all the while you're going through this hard time He is holding your hand! so cool!

these are some quotes that i found in a great devotional book called STREAMS IN THE DESERT.

"God turns our lives upside down so that we might see Him in a completely different and unforgettable way."

- so true...and if He didn't turn our lives upside down, we wouldn't get to experience the new things we learn about Him.

"Jesus Christ is not my security against the storms of life, but He is my perfect security in the storms. He has never promised me an easy passage, only a safe landing."

-sometimes we think that life is going to be easy because God is in our lives. but He never tells us that. He does say that He will be with us the whole time and that we can trust that He will never leave us or forsake us.

i hope that this is an encouragement to you. even if you aren't going through a hard time right now, its an exciting reminder of all that God does for us!

again thank you all for your prayers, please continue to pray for us as each day brings new reminders of our precious annika

God is good.

i have been wanting to post some pictures of annika so all of you could see her. i'm a little nervous about it which is kinda dumb i know. i just don't want any of you to be hurt. i want you to be able to see what a special gift God gave us.

by the way - she does have the levis nose for sure. :) mark thinks that she doesn't really look like him, but she did have pretty big hands (basketball player hands) :).

annika ruth corbin

june 9, 2008

8 lbs. 2 0z.

21.5 inches long

the picture below is from the private viewing we had at the funeral. she looked so pretty. although the shoes that we had for her were just a little too big :) . this picture is probably my favorite of all of them. its so neat to know that she is enjoying God's presence right now.

tomorrow will be one month since annika was born. i was just telling mark that it feels so much longer than a month. i think that its been so neat to see how God has taken care of us. people we don't even know that well have been sending us cards. words can't even express how much it means to us. yes we have our hard days, but God is good. He tells us to cast our cares upon Him because He cares for us. that was something that i never really did before and definitely didn't understand fully. but God has made that so real to me now. i know that i can trust Him with anything that comes my way. He is in control and He knows what is best for my life.

when we first got pregnant i was so worried about how we were going to pay for everything because we didn't have insurance at the time. i worried so much. we had so many costs come up as well as extra blood tests (fun ;)) but every time God provided. He took care of us. and in my journal every entry i wrote about how we can trust God and He'll provide and take care of us. little did i know how God would test us. But now 1 month later, i can say without a doubt that i trust God and He'll provide and take care of us.

Remember, no matter how horrible the situation may seem, God has a plan. He can see the big picture. He can see the road ahead. i just need to trust Him and He will take care of the rest. i just want to thank everyone so much for all of the prayers and support that you have given us. There is no way that we would be making it today without them. and if you don't know Jesus as your personal Savior, i hope that you will accept Him today. with Him your life can be an abundant life.